Preparing Teachers for Schools and Districts that Embrace PreK-3rd Reforms

Teacher education programs are changing to accommodate new models of education that link pre-k, kindergarten and the early grades, according to a new study from Pennsylvania State University. But faculty members report tensions between early childhood and elementary teacher education programs—much like the tensions that sometimes exist between preschool and elementary school programs – making the transformation all the more challenging.

Early Childhood Education (ECE) teacher preparation programs typically prepare teachers for pre-kindergarten up through one of the early grades (second or third), or they offer degrees that span from birth to kindergarten. Elementary programs typically prepare teachers for kindergarten through fifth grade, or sometimes sixth grade or even eighth grade. These divisions are usually based on the type of teaching certificate offered by the state where the education school resides. 

Lead author James Johnson, an early childhood education professor at Penn State, and his team of researchers analyzed 42 ECE teacher education programs housed in major research universities located in states with publicly funded pre-kindergarten programs. The authors recognized that research universities are not where most ECE teachers complete their training—in fact, non-research universities and community colleges train the majority of ECE teachers, especially those who obtain employment in non-public school settings. But the authors selected these schools because they may have more influence on state policies than other colleges or programs preparing ECE teachers. The Penn State researchers found that about half of the programs they investigated reported movements in pre-k (to a greater extent) and PreK-3^rd (to a lesser extent) as influencing how the schools prepared teachers.

Traditionally, teachers of the early grades have come from both the ECE teacher education pathway marked by an emphasis on the development of the child, and the elementary teacher education pathway characterized by a greater focus on methods and the content of lessons, according to the Penn State study.  But even with these differences, early childhood and elementary programs should not be thought of in isolation; instead, they should work in concert to offer programs that address developmentally appropriate practices, methods and content for all certification areas.

In fact, the study says, expectations are changing “for what teachers should know and be able to do, and what their professional dispositions should be” when they are employed in districts that have fully connected pre-k and kindergarten to the early grades of elementary school, an approach known as a PreK-3^rd.

So, why might there be a disconnection between programs? Based on their interviews with ECE study respondents, Penn State researchers identified the following seven sources of tension: 

1.  Notions that public elementary schools often have an academic focus and teacher-directed emphasis that is in opposition to ECE program values;
2. Frustration that elementary programs often have control over placement sites for students’ clinical experiences;
3. ECE candidate teachers being forced to take methods classes serving an age/grade range beyond third grade and instructors who lacked any background in ECE;
4. ECE teacher education undergraduates are not included as part of the education school;
5. Reports of rumors or comments such as:  ECE is an easier program than the elementary teacher education program, poor teachers in public schools get reassigned to a lower grade, and preschool teachers are not really teaching anyway, just minding little babies;
6. Philosophical differences such as the belief that early childhood teacher education focuses on a child-centered philosophy and the elementary program is content-centered; and
7. Different professional identities:  ECE teacher education faculty read different literature, subscribe to different journals, join different professional organizations, and in general have different traditions and histories than their elementary counterparts. 

How can prospective educators be expected to embrace the PreK-3^rd framework –a promising approach to improving students’ learning outcomes– if they don’t see the connections being made within their own education schools? The report shows that building teacher preparation programs that effectively bridge pre-k, kindergarten and the early grades of elementary school would likely require the fundamental restructuring of many education school programs.

At some universities, this may be quite difficult since colleges of education do not always house ECE programs. But that doesn’t make working together impossible. Prospective educators (teachers and leaders) enrolled in an ECE, elementary or educational leadership program may greatly benefit from a more collaborative environment.

The Penn State study included a survey of faculty members and others who worked within the 42 education programs it analyzed.  Faculty members reported the need to improve their teaching of transitions into pre-k, from pre-k into kindergarten, and between grade levels. They also said they wished their programs focused on preparing teachers to work with infants and toddlers and to teach in non-public school settings; instilling values such as social justice; teaching courses on adaptive leadership and multicultural competence; and addressing concerns about compensation.

Penn State researchers found that ECE programs have fewer tenured faculty members than elementary programs. Respondents reported “having to work harder, longer hours and having to take on additional responsibilities.” Due to the lack of full-time, tenured faculty, the report said, ECE programs rely on adjunct instructors, which limit their ability to plan collaboratively and establish consistent practices.

The researchers offer several recommendations that may help education schools to better prepare their students for the PreK-3^rd approach: 

• Recognize the ECE discipline as distinct and equal to the  elementary discipline. ECE, the authors say, should not be simply viewed as an appendage or as a part of elementary teacher education, with “stepchild status.”
• Administration support and leadership is needed. Universities should re-direct funds previously earmarked for traditional elementary faculty to hire additional tenured faculty that specialize in preparing teachers for PreK-3^rd environments. Authors write that the early childhood-to-12^th- grade model (often referred to as P-12) will eventually replace the K-12 model, and therefore, schools of education will need to begin preparing all school leadership and personnel for this shift in the way policymakers and educators think about education.
• Opportunities for collaboration between ECE and elementary teacher education programs must be enhanced. State and university officials should establish policies and practices to support enhanced communication, cooperation and collaboration between ECE and elementary teacher education programs.
• PreK-3^rd grade certificates should not overlap or compete with elementary teaching certificates. States should work towards a teacher licensure system that does not overlap so that PreK-3^rd teaching certificates are not in competition with other certifications, such as K-8 or 1-6, for example.

We, here at Early Ed Watch, think these recommendations are good fodder for future discussions about policies that may help to improve ECE teacher preparation programs at the university level.